"In addition to that, the breeding center over there will specialize in breeding Pokémon. If there's a Trainer who just turned ten and wants a Pokémon, they can give a little adoption fee and then choose one newly hatched Pokémon from there to take as their starter Pokémon to care for."
Sure enough... Naoki understood.
He nodded, didn't ask more, and with two books, drove the pickup truck directly back to the ranch.
As soon as the vehicle stopped, it attracted a curious crowd of Pokémon.
Naoki smiled and introduced to them, "This is the vehicle I told you about before. Now I can give you all a ride!"
"Bonnie!"
Ogerpon looked full of anticipation.
Naoki smiled slightly, then together with Cyclizar, unloaded the cargo from the truck.
He patted the truck bed and said to the group of Pokémon, "Get on!"
Alcremie, Ogerpon, Pawmot, Butterfree, Koraidon, Dragonair, Dratini, and others swarmed up, filling the truck bed to the brim.
Naoki took the opportunity to glance at the load capacity of the pickup truck, surprisingly finding it could fit quite a lot, with so many Pokémon able to fit in.
But still, there were some Pokémon who couldn't get on because there wasn't room for them.
The five big Garganacls looked enviously at everyone.
Naoki: "..."
He pondered for a while, then said, "I'll take you in the next batch!"
So the Garganacls stayed in the center of the ranch, watching eagerly as Naoki drove around the ranch with a group of Pokémon.
After driving around with a group of Pokémon for a few laps, Naoki parked the car next to the house, got off, and spoke to the group of Pokémon:
"Alright, go play now! I have some things to do."
The Pokémon gladly agreed, jumping off the truck and continuing to play on the grass.
Naoki proceeded to help his sister Indeedee move the baby crib upstairs into their room.
Sister Indeedee happily laid a soft blanket on the baby crib.
Once the bed was prepared, Brother Indeedee carefully placed the egg he was holding into it.
"Ai yeet!" It's done!
Sister Indeedee looked pleased with her masterpiece.
Naoki then sat on a chair and started to flip through the two books he held.
Both books were authored by Professor Elm from the Johto Region.
Professor Elm, a junior to Professor Oak.
Unlike Professor Oak, this Professor Elm's research topics are "Pokémon Breeding and Pokémon Eggs."
Pikachu's pre-evolution form was first discovered by him, the egg groups were also classified by him, and Professor Elm researched Pokémon's characteristics and evolutions, discovering quite impressive findings.
Due to his exceptional skills, Professor Oak once praised Professor Elm as a leading expert in Pokémon evolution.
Thoughts of Professor Elm filled his mind as Naoki flipped open the book in front of him.
"The so-called Pokémon breeding refers to the entire process where two Pokémon of the same egg group mate to create the crystallization of love."
"Additionally, there's a special exception: Ditto can mate with all Pokémon to produce eggs."
"Offspring Pokémon hatched from the eggs have a certain probability of inheriting the appearance, characteristics, moves, and abilities of the parent Pokémon, usually referred to as heredity."
"Research suggests that the stronger the parent Pokémon, the more outstanding the offspring produced."
"Indeed, exactly like what I know," Naoki continued reading, only to soon discover Professor Elm's egg group classifications for different Pokémon.
They included Monster Group, Bug Group, Fairy Group, Flying Group, Ground Group, Human-like Group, and so forth.
Each group contained sample Pokémon.
For instance, Lopunny belongs to the Human-like Group, while Dragonite belongs to Water 1 Group and Dragon Group.
Naoki continued reading further.
"The incubation time for eggs of Pokémon from different species varies greatly; for example, a Caterpie's egg typically requires only about a dozen days from laying to hatching."
"However, the eggs of some Dragon Type Pokémon have incubation times several tens of times longer than those of Caterpie, such as the long-lived, powerful Dragonite."
"The incubation time for this type of Pokémon's egg is approximately five to ten months, and it's speculated this occurs because Dragon Type Pokémon have relatively slower growth cycles."
"Five months to ten months, huh..."
That requires quite a wait.
No wonder Dragonite previously mentioned that after laying Dragon Eggs, Dragonite would leave them on the grass.
Then, Naoki watched the book for a while longer, firmly memorizing some information.
*
Mid-April, with the arrival of summer, the outside temperature gradually became hot, and at night, the sound of cicadas could be heard rushing from behind the mountain.
People shed their heavy coats and sweaters, changing into more lightweight and cool short sleeves.
This morning, Naoki was watering and fertilizing the World Tree, which had grown considerably larger, in the ranch.
A stranger visitor suddenly arrived at the ranch.
Naoki turned his head and saw a girl with a rural flair standing nervously outside the ranch.
Seeing that someone noticed her, the girl quickly asked:
"Hello, is this Naoki Ranch?"
Naoki stood up and replied, "That's right!"